Chelsea
A mixture of hill farms and commuter households populate the district, which includes the towns of Chelsea, Vershire, Corinth, Washington, Williamstown and Orange.
And this year, two Republicans are running as an informal slate to help Lt. Gov. Phil Scott advance his agenda in Montpelier should he win the governor’s race, while two Progressive candidates who remain passionate about single-payer health care also are on the Democratic ballot.
State Rep. Susan Hatch Davis, the Progressive from Washington running for a sixth term, has an A rating from the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund, but also says she supports budgets that help working families in the district, such as weatherization to reduce heating bills.
“I am in favor of advancing policies that support working families, and if you take a jaunt through our district, you’ll see … there are many people that are struggling to meet their basic needs,” the 63-year-old Hatch Davis said. She is a retired information technology worker for the state of Vermont.
The other incumbent, state Rep. Rodney Graham, R-Williamstown, is running for a second term, and also has an A rating from the NRA. He replaced Rep. Phil Winters, like Graham a dairy farmer from the district’s largest town.
The 52-year-old Graham, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, served for 10 years on the Williamstown School Board and said he worries that budgets in Montpelier are routinely growing by 5 percent, outpacing revenue, which is growing at a clip of less than 3 percent.
“In the state of Vermont, people are getting taxed out. It’s getting harder and harder, especially for people on fixed budgets,” Graham said.
Graham is joined on the GOP ticket by Chelsea Republican Bob Frenier, 70, a former Marine who runs a business that remanufactures fire trucks and previously ran for the Orange Senate seat.
Frenier has placed Burma Shave-style campaign signs around the district with such themes as “One-party rule is hurting Vermont,” a knock on a Montpelier that has been dominated by Gov. Peter Shumlin and a Democratic Legislature for the past six years.
The fourth candidate, Progressive Adam DesLauriers, grew up in Bolton Valley, where his father and grandfather built the ski area there in the 1960s, said he wants the Legislature to be more responsive to the concerns of people, not corporate interests.
“We just need to reorient and refocus on what the needs of the voters are, and I think they align more often than not across the aisle,” said DesLauriers, a 43-year-old Washington resident and owner of a multimedia production company.
All four candidates expressed concerns about Act 46, Vermont’s school consolidation law, which is raising questions about the future of the high school in Chelsea, among other issues.
Graham and Hatch Davis both said they voted against it.
“I don’t believe consolidation is going to save a lot of money, and I don’t see where it’s going to be a big improvement for education,” Graham said.
“I’ve been a staunch opponent of Act 46, because it was mandatory consolidation, and I believe when it comes to making those types of decisions, it should be at the local level,” Hatch Davis said.
Frenier and DesLauriers also said they opposed the measure, and would support repeal.
On health care, Hatch Davis and DesLauriers both support single-payer health care, though they also expressed concerns about the problem-plagued Vermont Health Connect system.
“I think private health insurers and an unencumbered, unregulated pharmaceutical industry and relatively unregulated providers is just a formula that inevitably is going to cost a fortune,” DesLauriers said. “What it takes to work toward (single-payer) is my goal. … The dance we’re doing with the health care exchange is really expensive … but a lot more people are covered now.”
Hatch Davis filed a comprehensive single-payer bill and said she doesn’t know enough about the newly signed all-payer system — which is moving Vermont away from a fee-for-service system — to comment.
Frenier, who has been a trustee of the Chelsea Health Center, said he is staunchly opposed to the all-payer model, likening it to a strawman for a single-payer system.
“Same bird, new feathers,” he said. “It’s an attempt at price controls, and the history of price controls is abject failure every time. It never works. They have taken away the whole element of the free market, which always improves quality and drives down price.”
Graham said he also wanted to learn more about the all-payer system, but said he was disappointed that policymakers exempted a state employees union and public school teachers union from having to buy their health insurance from the Vermont Health Connect exchange, “which created a hole in the pool which you need to carry claims.”
Three of the candidates — Graham, Frenier and Hatch Davis — oppose any changes to Vermont’s gun laws.
“I’m against changing anything. We have enough laws right now,” said Graham, who also has an A rating from the NRA.
Frenier, an NRA member, said the call for universal background checks “shows alarming disrespect for rural culture that borders on bigotry. People who think this is a great idea just don’t like guns and they don’t like people who like guns.”
Hatch Davis said her husband is a sportsman and trapper who teaches hunter education courses.
“I would not vote in favor of (an expanded background check law), because, again, I don’t know that that solves the problem that they are trying to get to,” she said.
DesLauriers said he realizes the district is home to many gun owners who see no need for increased regulation, but that guns can be “dangerous weapons” that need to be treated with the respect they deserve.
“I think we should be realistic about guns being transferred among family members — you don’t need a license to transfer a gun to your nephew … but yeah, I think the gun show loophole should be closed,” he said.
On marijuana legalization, the two Republicans are opposed.
“I think you’ll find the number of incidents of people driving under the influence will increase, and also, the number of kids using it will increase,” said Frenier, who expressed concerns about marijuana’s impact on children’s developmental process.
But both Hatch Davis and DesLauriers said it’s already part of life for many Vermonters, and the state should legalize and regulate marijuana to ensure its quality and also capture some of the revenue.
“If people are going to smoke it, let’s tax and regulate it and bring it from underground (and use the revenue) for education and treatment of addiction,” Hatch Davis said.
“Frankly, we’re as saturated with it as we would be,” DesLauriers said. “I think it would be a huge revenue stream. It would encourage job growth, and bring a lot of tourists and money into the state. I think it’s a no-brainer.”
John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com or 603-727-3217.